Records  of  the 
American  Catholic  Historical  Society 


Vol.  XXVIII 


December,  191 7 


No.  4 


AN  EARLY  AMERICAN  TRANSLATION  OF  THE 
ADESTE  FIDELES. 


BY  RIGHT  REV.  MGR.  H.  T.  HENRY,  LITT.  D. 


Some  years  ago  W.  H.  Grattan  Flood,  K.S.G.,  the  noted 
Irish  hymnologist  and  musical  antiquary,  contributed  to  a 
prominent  Catholic  magazine  published  in  Philadelphia  *  an 
article  on  the  Adeste  Fideles,  in  which  he  claimed  an  Irish 
authorship  for  the  translation  beginning  with  the  words: 
"  With  hearts  truly  grateful  "  : 

English  words  were  adapted  to  the  hymn  about  the  year 
1825,  and  another  version  was  given  by  Father  William  Young, 
of  Dublin,  in  1840,  printed  with  the  music  in  the  Catholic 
Choralist  (Dublin),  in  1842.  As  Father  Young  was  regarded 
as  a  saint  equally  with  his  brother,  Father  Charles  Young 
(whose  life  has  been  charmingly  written  by  Lady  Georgiana 
Fullerton),  many  readers  may  be  glad  to  see  this  specimen 
by  his  translation,  given  with  the  music  on  page  712. 

And  on  the  indicated  "page  712  "  of  the  magazine,  under 

1  Flood,  Notes  on  the  Origin  of  the  "Adeste  Fideles"  in  The  Dolphin, 
Decemt>er,  1005. 


3£     ' 


290  American  Catholic  Historical  Society 

the  heading,  "Adeste  Fideles.  [1842].  Sung  each  day  from 
Christmas  till  the  Octave  of  the  Epiphany  at  Mass,  Vespers 
and  Benediction ",  Dr.  Flood  prints  a  transcript  of  the 
melody  with  the  words  of  the  first  verse  placed  under  the 
notes : 

With  hearts  truly  grateful,  come,  all  ye  faithful, 

To  Jesus,  to  Jesus  in  Bethlehem. 

iSee  Christ,  your  Saviour,  heavVs  greatest  favor, 

Let's  hasten  to  adore  Him, 

Let's  hasten  to  adore  Him, 

Let's  hasten  to  adore  Him,  our  great  Lord. 

The  parenthetical  date  of  1842  is  doubtless  an  insertion 
made  by  Dr.  Flood.  The  music  given  is  the  traditional 
melody  of  the  hymn.  The  first  verse  of  the  English  trans- 
lation belongs  to  that  which  is  found  most  commonly  in  our 
American  Catholic  hymnals,  with  the  exception  that  the 
American  form  of  the  hymn  closes  the  verse  with  "  our 
God  and  King  "  instead  of  "  our  great  Lord  ". 

In  my  first  quotation  from  Dr.  Flood's  article,  the 
authorship  of  this  translation  is  given  without  hesitation  to 
Father  William  Young,  of  Dublin,  and  the  date  assigned  to 
the  translation  is  the  year  1840.  From  what  I  shall  have 
to  say  of  this  attribution  of  authorship  and  assignment  of 
date,  one  may  fairly  conjecture  that  the  first  printed  appear- 
ance of  the  translation  in  Ireland  was  in  the  Catholic 
Choralist  issued  by  Father  Young  in  1842. 

Dr.  Flood's  assignment  of  date  as  of  the  year  1840  can  be 
immediately  rejected,  for  I  have  found  the  translation  in 
several  Catholic  hymnals  published  before  the  year  1840  in 
the  United  States.  The  earliest  of  these  is  Hymns  for  the 
Use  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
A  New  Edition,  with  Additions  and  Improvements.  Balti- 
more: Printed  by  John  West  Butler.  1807.  In  this  little 
volume  of  112  pages  the  four  Latin  stanzas  are  followed 
by  the  five  stanzas  of  the  English  rendering  (pages  33-35)  : 


An  Early  Translation  of  the  Adeste  Fideles        291 

With  hearts  truly  grateful, 

Come,  all  ye  faithful, 

To  Jesus,  to  Jesus  in  Bethlehem. 

See  Christ  your  Saviour, 

Heavens  (sic)  greatest  favour. 

Let's  hasten  to  adore  him, 

Let's  hasten  to  adore  him, 

Let's  hasten  to  adore  him,  our  God  and  King.2 

Unless  we  ascribe  to  Father  William  Young  a  youthful 
precocity  like  that  of  Alexander  Pope  or  Alfred  Tennyson, 
we  may  with  equal  confidence  reject  the  claim  for  his 
authorship  of  the  translation;  for  in  an  article  contributed 
by  Dr.  Flood  to  The  Month  for  January,  1916,3  we  find 
that  Father  Young  was  born  in  1795  and  that  he  "  wrote 
numerous  hymns  and  translations,  to  be  found  in  his  Cath- 
olic Choralist  (1842).  Of  these  a  few  are  still  sung  in 
Catholic  Churches  .  .  ."  (page  16).  According  to  this,  the 
lad  would  be  only  twelve  years  of  age  when  the  Baltimore 
hymnal  of  1807  appeared. 

Now,  in  thus  rejecting  the  specific  claims  set  forth  by  Dr. 
Flood,  it  is  with  not  a  little  hesitation  that,  in  the  title  to 
the  present  paper,  I  have  "staked  a  claim"  for  an  American 
authorship  of  the  translation.  My  reasons,  however,  are 
these : 

(1)  Dr.  Flood,  who  has  been  for  many  years  searching 
not  alone  the  highways,  but  as  well  the  byways,  of  Irish 
musical  history,  and  who  has  published  several  learned  vol- 
umes and  many  articles  in  connection  with  his  researches, 
seems  to  have  been  unaware  of  any  rendering  of  the  Adeste 
Fideles  into  English  verse  before  the  year  1825.  "  English 
words  were  adapted  to  the  hymn  about  the  year  1825,"  he 

2  Some  of  our  hymnals  do  not  print  all  the  five  stanzas.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  give  them  here,  however,  as  they  may  be  easily  found  in 
The  American  Catholic  Hymnal  edited  by  the  Marist  Brothers  and 
published  by  P.  J.  Kenedy  &  Sons  in  New  York  in  1913. 

3  Flood,  Ireland's  Contribution  to  English  Hymnody,  pp.  36-41. 


292  American  Catholic  Historical  Society 

remarks  in  his  article  contributed  to  The  Dolphin.  He 
wrote  this  in  1905,  and  of  course  he  would  modify  the 
statement  very  considerably  to-day.  But  it  is  clear  that, 
having  made  many  "  Notes  "  on  the  origin  of  the  hymn 
and  of  its  melody,  he  was,  in  1905,  unaware  of  any  version 
of  the  hymn  into  English  before  the  year  1825,  so  far  as 
his  study  of  Catholic  hymnals  or  prayer-books  published  in 
Ireland  could  inform  him.  As  our  translation  nevertheless 
appeared  in  1807 — eighteen  years  earlier  than  the  date  set 
by  Dr.  Flood — we  may  fairly  conclude  that  it  is  most  prob- 
ably not  of  Irish  origin. 

This  conclusion  is  strengthened  by  other  considerations. 
The  Latin  text  of  the  hymn  was  known  in  Ireland  about  the 
same  time  as  in  England  or  in  Scotland.  The  Latin  words 
cannot  be  traced  back  further  than  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  They  are  found  in  a  manuscript  in 
Stonyhurst  College,  England,  authentically  dated  1751;  in 
another  preserved  in  Euing  Library,  Glasgow,  authentically 
dated  1750;  and  in  still  another,  until  recently  preserved  in 
Clongowes  Wood  College,  Ireland,  apparently  undated,  but 
doubtless  written  about  the  same  time  as  the  others.  In  Eng- 
land alone,  apparently,  was  the  hymn  translated  into  the 
vernacular  at  an  early  date.  If  it  was  sung  at  all  in  Ireland, 
probably  it  was  sung  only  in  Latin.  One  might  safely  infer 
this  from  the  fact  that  Bishop  David  published  his  edition 
of  the  True  Piety,  or,  the  Day  Well  Spent  at  Baltimore  in 
1809 — two  years  after  the  Catholic  hymnal  had  been  issued 
in  the  same  city.  The  True  Piety,  however,  gives  the  Easter 
hymn  (O  Filii),  but  not  the  Christmas  hymn  (Adeste), 
although  both  are  equally  unliturgical.  It  would  seem  that 
Bishop  David  desired  to  stick  pretty  closely  to  his  original, 
namely,  the  edition  of  the  True  Piety  which  had  been  pub- 
lished at  Cork  in  1797,  and  which,  says  Finotti  (Biblio- 
graphia  Catholica  Americana,  p.  100),  "only  forms  the 
groundwork    of    the   much    enlarged    American   edition ". 


An  Early  Translation  of  the  Adeste  Fideles        293 

Despite  this  enlargement,  Bishop  David  did  not  include  the 
Adeste  Fideles. 

In  an  edition  of  the  Augustinian  Father  Gahan's  Manual 
of  Catholic  Piety,  which  was  published  in  Dublin  in  1839, 
only  the  Latin  text  of  the  Adeste  Fideles  is  given. 

Thus  the  True  Piety  (Cork,  1797)  and  the  Manual  of 
Catholic  Piety  (Dublin,  1839)  seem  to  throw  some  light  on 
Dr.  Flood's  view  that  no  early  translation  of  the  hymn  had 
appeared  in  Ireland,  and  also  explain,  perhaps,  his  attribu- 
tion of  our  translation  to  Father  William  Young  as  author. 

(2)  Excluding  Ireland  as  a  probable  source  of  our  trans- 
lation, we  next  turn  to  England.  Here  we  are  confronted 
with  most  abundant  information  in  Dr.  Julian's  Dictionary 
of  Hymnology.  Despite  his  wide  study  of  English  hym- 
nals, Dr.  Julian  can  find  no  earlier  source  of  our  translation 
than  a  Catholic  hymnal  published  in  Washington  in  1830, 
and  mistakenly  places  it  amongst  those  "  not  in  common 
use  ".  It  seems  therefore  reasonable  to  exclude  England  as 
a  possible  source  of  our  version.  I  can  conjecture  no  reason 
for  supposing  that  Scotland  or  Wales  could  offer  more 
promising  results,  and  accordingly,  by  this  process  of  ex- 
clusion, I  am  forced  to  consider  that  our  version  is  of  Amer- 
ican origin. 

(3)  There  are  several  weighty  reasons  for  supposing 
that  our  translation  first  appeared  in  print  in  the  Baltimore 
hymn-book  of  1807.  So  familiar  are  we  with  the  "  most 
Christmassy  "  of  hymns,  both  in  its  Latin  text  and  in  one 
or  other  of  its  English  versions,  that  we  find  it  difficult  to 
realize  either  that  the  Latin  text  is  not  very  old  or  that  the 
widespread  use  of  the  hymn  is  comparatively  recent.  Our 
modern  hymnals  commonly  give  the  Adeste  Fideles  as  a 
popular  but  unliturgical  Christmas  hymn,  and  similarly  fur- 
nish us  with  the  O  Filii  (either  in  Latin  or  in  English  trans- 
lation, and  not  infrequently  in  both  Latin  and  English)  as 
a  popular  but  unliturgical  hymn  for  Easter.     Our  earliest 


294  American  Catholic  Historical  Society 

American  choir-books  and  hymnals,  on  the  other  hand,  ap- 
parently do  not  know  the  Adeste  Fideles  at  all,  but  are 
scrupulously  careful  to  furnish  the  singers  with  the  O  Filii 
in  its  long  English  translation  of  twelve  stanzas.  It  may 
not  seem  in  any  way  startling  to  us  to  find  the  well-known 
"  With  hearts  truly  grateful  "  dating  back  to  the  year  1807. 
We  might  fancy  it  as  common  to  the  various  Primers,  Eve- 
ning Offices  of  Our  Lady,  or  Divine  Offices,  or  combined 
hymn-and-prayer  books  so  much  used  by  our  Catholic  for- 
bears in  England  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. A  student  of  hymnology  like  Dr.  Flood,  however, 
found  its  appearance  in  a  hymnal  issued  as  late  as  the  year 
1842  sufficiently  striking  to  make  him  ascribe  it  to  the  com- 
piler of  the  hymnal,  the  Rev.  William  Young,  of  Dublin. 
It  is  going  a  long  way  back  in  American  Catholic  hymnody 
when  we  find  our  version  in  the  hymnal  of  1807.  It  is  not 
given  in  Benjamin  Carr's  Catholic  choir-book,  published  in 
Baltimore  only  two  years  earlier  ( 1805),  which  nevertheless 
contains  what  is  apparently  a  Protestant  version  ("  Hither, 
ye  faithful,  come  with  songs  of  triumph").  Carr's  very 
noteworthy  volume  is  undated,  but  a  copy  of  it  preserved  in 
the  library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  bears 
written  testimony  that  it  was  published  in  1805.4     On  the 

4  This  important  work  by  Benjamin  Carr  has  for  title-page:  "A 
New  Edition,  with  an  Appendix  of  /  Masses.  Vespers,  Litanies,  / 
Hymns  and  Psalms,  Anthems  and  Motetts.  /  Composed,  selected  and 
arranged  for  the  use  of  the  /  Catholic  Churches  in  the  United  States 
of  America  /  Respectfully  Dedicated  by  permission  to  the  /  Right 
Revd.  John  Carrol  (sic),  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Baltimore.  /  Sold  by  J.  Carr, 
Baltimore;  C  Blake,  Philadelphia;  J.  Hewitt,  New  York,  and  F. 
Mallet,  Boston."  I  have  transcribed  the  title  from  the  copy  in  the 
library  of  the  American  Catholic  Historical  Society.  No  indication 
of  date  is  anywhere  given  in  this  volume.  The  dedication  to  the 
"Right.  Revd."  John  Carroll,  "Bishop"  of  Baltimore,  indicates  clearly 
that  the  work  appeared  before  the  year  1808,  when  Carroll  became 
Archbishop.  The  written  testimony  given'  iby  the  copy  in  the  library 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  is  doubtless  correct. 


An  Early  Translation  of  the  Adeste  Fideles        295 

other  hand,  the  Adeste  Fideles  is  not  given,  either  in  Latin 
or  in  English,  in  John  Aitken's  "  Compilation  "  for  Cath- 
olic Choirs  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1787,  with  new  edi- 
tions in  1 791  and  18 14,  although  the  corresponding  "  Eas- 
ter Hymn"  (a  translation  of  the  "O  Filii  et  Filiae  ",  ap- 
parently taken  from  the  Evening  Oifke  of  Owr  Lady  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1748)  is  given  in  all  three  editions.  It 
is  very  probable  that  the  compiler  of  the  Baltimore  Catholic 
hymnal  of  1807  was  ignorant  of  Carr's  volume,  issued  only 
two  years  earlier  in  the  same  city.  Carr  used  a  translation 
which  is  most  likely  of  Protestant  authorship,  as  a  reference 
to  it  is  found  in  Hobart's  Festivals  and  Fasts  ( 1804)  to  the 
effect  that  it  had  been  frequently  sung  in  Episcopalian  ser- 
vices on  Christmas  Day.  The  compiler  of  the  Catholic 
hymnal  of  1807  appears  to  have  desired  to  break  away  from 
this  Episcopalian  tradition,  and  to  provide  a  Catholic  ver- 
sion of  the  Catholic  hymn  to  be  sung  to  the  traditional 
melody. 

(4)  The  Baltimore  version  of  1807  does  not  seem  to  be 
popular  in  the  British  Isles.  Julian  places  it  under  the  head- 
ing of  "  not  in  common  use  ".  I  am  not  familiar  with 
Catholic  hymnals  published  in  Ireland,  but  it  is  perhaps  sig- 
nificant of  its  unpopularity  there  that,  despite  its  appearance 
in  Father  Young's  volume  of  1842,  it  is  not  given  either  in 
Father  Gaynor's  edition  of  St  Patrick's  Hymn  Book  or  in 
The  Armagh  Hymnal,  both  of  which  were  published  in 
Dublin  in  1906  and  191 5  respectively.  In  America,  on  the 
other  hand,  this  version,  unkempt  though  it  be  from  a  poet- 
ical standpoint,  has  been  most  widely  used.  It'  is  not  freak- 
ish to  found  an  argument  on  this  double  fact;  for  there 
seems  to  be  an  unconscious  sentiment  of  natural  affection 
for  national  hymnody.  The  French  have  clung  with  won- 
derful persistency  to  their  Easter  hymn,  O  Filii,  although  it 
is  unliturgical  and  although  the  French  appear  to  have  been 
fully  accustomed  to  sing  the  truly  liturgical  hymns  in  the 


296  American  Catholic  Historical  Society 

original  Latin  text.  Similarly,  they  cling  to  a  French- Latin 
cento  of  the  Adeste  Fideles  which  is  not  the  one  used  in 
English-speaking  countries.  Now  the  O  Filii  is  certainly 
of  French  authorship.  The  Form  of  the  Adeste  sung  in 
France  is  almost  certainly  of  French  authorship,  while  the 
form  sung  in  English-speaking  countries  is  almost  certainly 
of  English  origin.  If  one  may  argue  in  a  similar  fashion 
concerning  a  translation  of  the  Adeste,  one  would  fairly 
assume  that  the  Baltimore  translation  of  1807  is  of  Amer- 
ican origin,  for  its  use  has  been  confined  almost  exclusively 
to  America.  I  could  illustrate  this  assertion  by  a  surpris- 
ingly long  list  of  volumes  published  for  Catholic  use  in 
America — a  list  that  would  almost  give  a  complete  narra- 
tive of  our  prolific  editing  of  hymnals,  This  story  must  at 
some  time  form  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  American  Cath- 
olicity. While  it  is  possible  for  us  to  do  it,  we  should  gather 
up  the  fragments  of  the  story,  lest  they  be  lost.  I  have  tried 
to  preserve  here  one  fragment  of  America's  contribution  to 
English  Hymnody. 


